Darwin was right. If "survival of the fittest" ever applied to anything, it's sports cars. Since we started selling the Volvo 1800 here in 1962, a lot of sports cars have become extinct. Others have changed so drastically they're not the same animal.

Darwin was right. If 'survival of the fittest' ever applied to anything, it's sports cars. Since we started selling the Volvo 1800 here in 1962, a lot of sports cars have become extinct. Others have changed so drastically they're not the same animal. The 1800 has survived because we haven't gone in for here-today, gone-tomorrow gimmicks. Only a couple of things have changed. We've made the 1800 faster. And strengthened those parts of the car our new, bigger engines might strain. The first power boost came in 1964. With an engine that Sports Car Graphic called 'one of the most, if not the most reliable, rugged and unbreakable car engine being built today!' Two years later, we stepped up the power again. But not without putting power disc brakes on the front wheels. In 1969, we introduced a 118- hp engine. Beefed up the clutch and flywheel. And installed a dual-circuit brake system. (If one system fails, you still have full braking power on three wheels. That's so you'll never run out of brakes.) The next year, the 1800 reached the highest level of intelligence possible for a sports car. A fuel injection system, with an electronic brain, was installed. Which replaced the carburetors, and increased power 10%. The brakes kept pace. The 4-wheel power disc brakes designed to stop our 400 pound heavier 164 sedan now stop the 1800E (Electronic fuel injection). We also added the same 4-speed synchromesh transmission that handles our big six -cylinder engine. But even with these changes, not much has changed. The Volvo 1800E is basically the same strong car it was 10 years ago. Which is why it's rarely in the repair shop. Or in the hands of the species that's gotten fat off sports cars since their beginning. The grease monkey.
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Publicado: sexta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2016 às 17:28
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